You can’t homeschool a child with autism! When will you have peace and quiet? Your child needs a strict special ed teacher to keep their schedule, as mom you are just too soft to do that. What about your peace and quiet time, just send them to school! The voices that resound around you when you say, “l’m homeschooling my child…. Yes, my little one with autism.”
Today let’s talk about one aspect of autism, the need for routine and schedule! Children with autism have troubles with transitions, schedules, and changes in the schedule. Many people have told me over the years that routine and the strict school environment is exactly why I should send my autistic children to school. I have found the exact opposite to be true.
Homeschooling allows me to manage our time and schedule much better and in a calmer way then my friends that have to deal with school schedules. We can wake up and start at a time that is more natural for my child. We happen to live in the land of snow and ice. During the winter snow days and delays are common. My children with autism do not understand this nor do they deal with those changes well. Since we homeschool I don’t have to deal with that.
I am not trying to buffer my kids from all schedule changes. I just want to focus on them and deal with them a little at a time. I can schedule an afternoon co-op, field trip, or event that is outside my child’s comfort zone to encourage stretching them. I can be sure this is a day that they are not sick or extremely frustrated. When you go into routine changes in a good mood and learn to accept that changes are not bad your child will be less rigid.
This ability to be less rigid has made my home a calmer, more peaceful home. No joke with 4 kids on the spectrum we are an intense home. There is hardly a day when some bubble of autism doesn’t disrupt us. When those disruptions do happen we are home in secure comfortable surroundings often with sensory helps (like an exercise ball) that we can immediately begin to redirect.
Homeschooling my children with autism has created a calmer home rather than an out of control home!
I would encourage you to try homeschooling your child(ren) with autism. Try to keep an open mind that you will have more time and more peace than many imagine. A deeper more meaningful relationship with your child that builds a foundation of trust. Many great things to encourage a homeschooling family that is dealing with autism!
Thank you for sharing, on the hard days with my son, these type of reassurances from those that know what it is like are so helpful and appreciated.
Yay someone who gets it. My HFA does pretty good w/ schedule changes as I have forced that over the years. He’s pretty good w/ a brief explanation. It’s not 100 percent,but there is not much issues and he is fairly flexible now.
I’ve been homeschooling my ASD son (moderate+ on the spectrum) since he hit middle school age three years ago and we both love it. He gets more exposure to public/community activities as well as life skills and a broader experience with people of all ages and abilities.
I just started homeschooling my 13yr old son (Aspergers) 3 weeks ago. We’ve only lived in this state for 20 months, the last school year (7th grade) and this year (8th grade), I was up at the public school 3-4 times a week due to them calling me about my son being disruptive. They put him in the ISS room 2-5 times a week. He has learned no academics from them and was getting suspended out of school 2-5 times a month! Since I started deschooling him 3 weeks ago, he has been laughing and smiling and slowly I am seeing my son come back to who he was before CMS got a hold of him. Im looking forward to this homeschooling adventure with him. (I have 14 yr old and 7 yr old sons as well, not on the spectrum and they are continuing with public schools for now)
We homeschool both of our sons. Both have Autism, one has dyslexia, and he also has ADHD. There are other special needs mixed in there, as well.
They are very successful in school BECAUSE we homeschool. We can discover their needs, work with them, and help them as slow or fast as they need. I know kids that are similar to my sons in our local public school and in the public school in our last city. Their kids are every bit as smart as my children are, but my children are far beyond where they are because of the one-on-one time they get. I fully believe that not only can parents educate their kids with special needs, they can do it well.
What is the program of homeschool you do? We’re trying it this year with a local charter school and I’m already feeling that this isn’t the right place for us. The above comment states they are able to work as fast or slow as needed but Im not finding that at all. =( We’re already behind and stressed about it and it’s only the third week. Are you “unschooling” with your own curriculum or dealing with the state mandated requirements? I’m desperate for insight from other homeschoolers! Thanks.
What is the program of homeschool you do? We’re trying it this year with a local charter school and I’m already feeling that this isn’t the right place for us. The above comment states they are able to work as fast or slow as needed but Im not finding that at all. =( We’re already behind and stressed about it and it’s only the third week. Are you “unschooling” with your own curriculum or dealing with the state mandated requirements? I’m desperate for insight from other homeschoolers! Thanks. (sry i might have spammed the comment box unintentionally)
I do not work under any kind of umbrella school like K12, or charter schools for the very reason you are finding. I have several children with differing abilities and speeds of learning. I look at each subject and find the text, workbook, living books (basically a group of books like classics that covers a subject), lapbooking unit that best fits my child’s ability and learning level. It does take me time to find the learning material we need but it saves time later on in lack of frustration and need to stop and get a new curriculum. I’ll post this to the FB page so you can get more responses!
God bless
Heather Laurie
I know I am late in commenting on this, as I see this was posted a while ago BUT…
I just wanted to say “thank you.” Thank you SO Very much as this is the FIRST positive, encouraging post on homeschooling a child with special needs that I have found! You don’t understand how much your encouraging words have warmed my heart- thank you!
We just pulled my sweet 4 year old son out of the local public school and are educating him at home. I was homeschooled as a child all the way through graduation and have quite a bit of understanding and support for homeschooling in general but when it comes to homeschooling my son with autism- people think I’m nuts! The first part of this post… Like you copied text messages straight from my inbox! ;0
Any experience with “Five in a row” and/or work boxes? I am really excited about both of these for my son and was just wondering if you had any advice?! 🙂 thank you again!
I homeschool a 12 year old with Asperger’s Syndrome & SPD. We tried the public school route & that was probably the worst thing I have ever done to my child. 🙁 He had an IEP at school, but even the special education teacher was unable to successfully help him. When my son had meltdowns or sat under the desk rocking & staring at the wall, I got called to come & get him. We have been homeschooling for 4 years now & that was the *best* decision I have ever made for him. His meltdowns happen far less now & he is on & even above (in some subjects) his grade level & doing really well. (at public school, he was so overwhelmed by his environment & the bullying & torment the other kids subjected him to that he could never focus on lessons & his grades were poor as a result!) Homeschool has made a huge difference for us!
I am a mother to 5 children ages 11, 9, 6, 5, and 2. I pulled my 9 year old Autistic daughter out of the school system the last ten weeks of this previous year due to bruising that could not be explained. I was nervous and scared. I did not know if I could do it, if I could teach my child,and if she would adapt to this change. I researched WV State Codes, joined CHEWV, HSLDA, and sought out others in my county that were homeschooling for advice. This has been the best decision of my life! My child’s meltdowns as I call them are almost gone. After working with my child at home, the more furious I become at the school system. They had taught her nothing after I had held her back a year in Pre-K and she was now in the 3rd grade. So, my 3rd grader has spent the last 10 weeks learning on a Pre-K level. I am building her foundation of learning. My advice is to try everything. See how your child does… if they do not adapt to it then find a different method. For example, my daughter did not know how to spell words. She is non-verbal. So I bought a Scrabble board and I will say the spelling word for her to spell. She spells it out with the tiles on the board. Do what works for your child. Be creative and if you run out of ideas, Google it. There are many free printables that you can use to supplement or add to lessons where you need to practice more. Just remember that if I can do it then so can you! Best wishes! *I use Time4Learning.com for my daughter, makes record keeping easier if I print out her daily lessons off there, I use Abeka publications, & printables off the Internet* You are not limited to one source. I find that free downloadable learning apps on my mobile phone are good on the go too. Always learning!
I’m so thankful I found this site. I’m a grandmother homeschooling my granddaughter… Some days go well,others not so great. She is a 4 th grader by the education realm, but,is about 1st-2nd. We tried online school and that was a defeat. Now,I just focus on math and reading. She understands states in the union and some money equations. My concern is that my daughter wants her in a curriculum, on line…here is my problem. Can you recommend an online school for special needs?
God Bless You,
Lydia Hust